Andrew Barton (privateer)
Sir Andrew Barton (c. 1466 – 2 August 1511), Scottish sailor from Leith, served as High Admiral of the Kingdom of Scotland. Career Some of Andrew Barton's trading voyages to Flanders ports in the 1490s are recorded in the Ledger of Andrew Halyburton.[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mTwaAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s Ledger of Andrew Halyburton, HM Register House (1867)] He was the oldest of three brothers, a younger brother Robert Barton of Over Barnton became Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. Andrew became notorious in England and Portugal as a 'pirate', though as a seaman who operated under the aegis of a letter of marque on behalf of the Scottish crown, he may be described as a privateer. The letter of marque against Portuguese shipping was originally granted to his father John Barton by James III of Scotland before 1485. John's ships had been attacked by Portuguese vessels when he was trading at Sluis in Flanders.Murdoch, Steve, Scotland's Maritime Warfare, Brill (2010), p.81: Letters of James IV, SHS (1953), p.81 no.125 James IV revived the letters in July 1507.Hay, Denys, Letters of James V, HMSO (1954), 401. When Andrew Barton, sailing in the Lion tried to take reprisals against Portuguese ships in 1508, he was detained by Dutch authorities at Veere. James IV had to write to Maximilian, the Holy Roman Emperor, and others to get him released in 1509. Andrew then took a Portuguese ship which carried an English cargo, leading to more difficulties, and James IV had to suspend the letter of marque for a year.Murdoch, Steve, Scotland's Maritime Warfare, Brill (2010), p.81 Andrew captured a ship of Antwerp in 1509, the Fasterinsevin (the Shrove Tuesday), which did not come within his letter of marque. James IV ordered him to recompense the captain Peter Lempson and his officers for her cargo of woad and canvas.Protocol Book of John Foular, 1503-1513, vol.1, SRS (1941) p.105 no.569, 19 July 1509 The Bartons were in demand to support John, King of Denmark, and were allowed by him to harass the shipping of Lübeck. In return for this service, John of Denmark sent James IV timber for the masts of his ships from Flensburg. Andrew joined John's service briefly in the spring of 1511, but sailed away without permission, also taking a ship that James IV had given to John.Hannay, Mackie, Spilman, ed., Letters of James IV, SHS (1953), p.xlii, p.212-3 no.387, p.226 no.412 Last battle Later in 1511, Andrew Barton was cruising the English coast looking for Portuguese prizes when he and his ships the Lion and Jenny Pirwyn were captured after a fierce battle with Sir Edward Howard and his brother Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk off Kent at the Downs. According to the story told in ballads, Andrew was subsequently beheaded. If true, such action would perhaps have been illegal because Barton possessed a letter of marque. Contemporary English and Scottish chronicle accounts agree that Andrew died of wounds received in the fight. The incident was recalled two years later in the exchange of rhetoric at the battle of Flodden.Calendar of State Papers Milan, vol.1 (1912), p.406 no.660, Brian Tuke to Richard Pace, 22 September 1513 The story of the sea-battle was told by Raphael Holinshed and in other 16th-century English chronicles. In Holinshed's story the Howards at first pretended only to approach and salute Andrew Barton, but then engaged in battle, Barton's ship was the Unicorn and he died from his wounds. The Scottish survivors were taken to London and kept prisoner in the Bishop of York's lodging, York Place at Whitehall.[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NnpEAAAAcAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s Holinshed, Raphael, The Scottish Chronicle, vol. 2, Arbroath (1805)], pp.132-3 (double volume on googlebooks) Edward Hall wrote that Andrew encouraged his men during the fight with his whistle. Hall mentions that the two ships were brought to Blackwall on 2 August 1511, and the prisoners were freed after an interview with the Bishop of Winchester, after acknowledging their piracy.Hall, Edward, [http://www.archive.org/details/hallschronicleco00halluoft Chronicle of England, (1809)], p.525 The Scottish bishop John Lesley gave a similar account of the battle in his chronicle.Thomson, Thomas, ed., [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=m1oJAAAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s John Lesley's History of Scotland, from the death of King James I. in the year M.CCCC.XXXVI to the year M.D.LXI, Bannatyne Club (1830)], p.82-83 George Buchanan has the detail that Andrew Barton continued fighting after his leg was broken by a gunshot, and encouraged his sailors by beating a drum before he died from his wounds. Buchanan emphasises that the Howards sailed on the instruction of Henry VIII following a representation by a Portuguese ambassador.Aikman, James, trans., George Buchanan's History of Scotland, vol.2 (1827), pp.247-8, Hall wrote that Henry VIII was at Leicester when he ordered the Howards to chase the Scottish ships.Hall, Edward, Chronicle of England, (1809), p.525 Ballads of Andrew Barton He is the subject of an English folk song entitled Sir Andrew Barton or Andrew Bartin, which is Child ballad number 167. The most famous lines of this ballad are: His story is also told in a Scottish Child ballad called Henry Martyn (Child ballad number 250). Rudyard Kipling wrote a short story connected with Barton in his Puck of Pook's Hill series. References *Claire Jowitt. (ed.), Pirates? The Politics of Plunder, 1550–1650, Ashgate (2010), pp. xii. 244, ISBN 978-1-4094-0044-8 External links *[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch167.htm Andrew Bartin], two variants on the ballad *http://www.electricscotland.com/history/leith/17.htm, Story of the Bartons on Electric Scotland Category:1460s births Category:1511 deaths Category:Lord High Admirals of Scotland Category:Scottish knights Category:Scottish sailors Category:Privateers Category:Scottish pirates Category:Court of James IV of Scotland